BMW Group lowered its production forecast and warned of sharp fluctuations in the second half of the year, while pointing to energy supply in Europe and global chip supply as two key factors in meeting its full-year profitability targets.
Reuters reported that BMW Chief Executive Oliver Zipse said new orders are starting to fall, but orders remain full in the coming months.
BMW Chief Financial Officer Nicolas Peter added that demand for electric models was particularly high and said he was on track to double sales of purely electric vehicles by the end of the year and expected total sales to grow 5 – 10 percent in the second half of the year, driven by strong Asian markets.
However, BMW expects to end the year with sales below last year’s record high of 2.52 million vehicles. Meanwhile, the possibility of tighter sanctions against Russia, disruption of gas supplies or a spillover of the Russia-Ukraine situation are not included in the forecast.
Oliver Zipse said: “The key factor will be how the supply situation evolves — not only for semiconductors, but also for energy supply in Europe.”
Stifel analyst Daniel Schwarz called the outlook “quite disappointing,” while Berstein Research noted that BMW was the first automaker to warn about demand.
